Category: Information – Products

You can open different kinds of document types from buttons in menu interfaces created with the CD-Menu Creator and USB Menu Creator tools. One document type that can be opened are Excel documents, and if you choose the menu command Open Excel File (see the picture below) you will get access to some special functionality that can be useful when handling Excel files. You can for example send command line parameters (switches) to Excel.

With the Open Excel File command you can open the following types of Excel files: .XLS, .XLSX, .XLTX, .XLSM, and .XLTM.

By entering command line switches in the Parameters text box in CD-Menu Creator / USB Menu Creator, you can control how Excel files are opened in Microsoft Excel. For example, if you enter /r in the Parameters text box, the Excel file is opened in read-only mode.

Read more about available command line switches for Excel here:

> Command-line switches for Excel (opens a page on Microsoft’s website)

See also
> How to open a PDF document from a menu
> CD-Menu Creator’s button commands explained

In the menu creation tools CD-Menu Creator and USB Menu Creator there is a function you can use to place buttons in groups and add a title to each group. If you have many buttons in a menu this will help your user find the correct button faster. Below are two menu examples that show how it may look like:

Example 1: One column with buttons + two groups with buttons + Exit button

Example 2: Two columns with buttons + four groups with buttons

It is easy to create button groups and add titles to the groups. In this step by step tip on our website we will describe how to create button groups with titles.

See also
> How to handle menu interfaces with many buttons

Today it is very important to code sign binary files (for example .EXE and .DLL files) that are distributed to other computers. By code signing your files you will protect your files against viruses and malware and avoid deterrent warning messages in Windows.

In our setup tool Visual Installer it is easy to check if a file in Visual Installer’s file list is code signed or not. You can check if a file is code signed by right-clicking on the file in the list with files in the File list tab in Visual Installer’s editor, and thereafter choosing the Show file information menu item in the menu that appears. The following dialog box will be shown:

To the right of the Code signed? text field there will be a Yes if the file is code signed (has a digital certificate). Otherwise the text will be No.

The name of the organization that the digital certificate is issued to is displayed to the right of the Organization text field in the same frame.

See also
> Tip: How to code sign a setup package in Visual Installer
> What is Code Signing / Digital Signature / Digital Certificate?
> Extended Validation (EV) Code Signing
> SamLogic uses a digital certificate from Sectigo for its software

Using one and the same font in a software with all versions of Windows, graphic cards, displays and DPI settings, and expecting the result always to be perfect, is nearly an impossible mission. And then you must also take into account that people also prefer different fonts.

In Visual Installer and CD-Menu Creator (our tools for creation of installation packages and menu interfaces) you can change the font for the editor. We have included a couple of fonts that you can choose among, so you have the possibility to choose a font that suits your system best.

Too large font size?
If you have problem with a too large font size in the editor – so large that all letters is not visible because they not fit in the reserved text area – you can try to change the font for the editor. This may solve the problem.

How to change the font for the text in the editor
In Visual Installer you can change the font by choosing the Editor options menu item in the Special menu – and then opening the Font tab in the dialog box. In CD-Menu Creator you can change the font by choosing the Options menu item in the File menu – and then opening the Appearance tab in the dialog box. Via these tabs you can change the font for the editor.

See also
> How to change font size for the tip text in a menu